Published: Saturday, September 14, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, September 13, 2013 at 11:00 p.m.

The residents of Chester's Mill, the small town at the center of CBS' locally filmed thriller "Under the Dome," are not the only ones who have fallen victim to the captive hold of the inescapable dome that has isolated their town. All summer, millions of television fans yearning for original programming in the normally stagnant summer season have gravitated toward the engrossing series, making it one of the biggest summer programs in recent history and scoring the show a second season order.

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Monday, the series, which is based on the Stephen King best-seller, airs its Season 1 finale, an episode that network previews have dubbed "phenomenal" and one that will likely answer just as many nail-biting questions as it poses. But the real story for local fans of the show is the continued presence "Under the Dome" has in the area, weeks after filming ended.

Much of the show's connection and investment with the area is thanks to its small-town setting, which allows recognizable local landmarks to pop up on the show, giving residents the opportunity to see their town in action on the small screen every week.

The city of Burgaw hosted the show repeatedly throughout first season production and built a relationship with the show that Town Manager Chad McEwen said was beneficial for both parties.

"For the most part, we had a very good relationship, especially with locations," McEwen said. "We tried to be as flexible and attentive to their needs as possible, while also balancing the overall needs of the businesses and residents in town."

While in Burgaw, "Under the Dome" converted the exterior of a coffee house on Courthouse Avenue into the show's diner, used the courthouse as the Chester's Mill police station and town hall, and used Dee's Drugstore as the town's pharmacy, which was raided early in the series.

Executive producer Neal Baer spoke specifically about the production's interest in Burgaw this summer at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles.

"Burgaw was really a focus for us. We love the way it looks and the accessibility," Baer said.

Even though production on the series' second season, ordered by CBS back in July, is months away, McEwen said the show already has been in contact with the city to bring cast and crews back to town. "We are very receptive to them coming back and to any comments and concerns they may have that will make the production even better next year," he said.

Southport, used for many of the waterfront scenes featured on the show, also reflected fondly on its experience with cast and crew leading into Monday's season finale.

"We have had an excellent relationship with the show," said Cindy Brochure, director of Tourism & Economic Development for the city. "We were happy to have them and, according to those location scouts who have come to Southport in search of filming locations, they were happy to be here."

Like Burgaw, production is expected to return to Southport and Brochure said the town will gladly welcome the show back with open arms.

"We not only welcome their return, but we look forward to it," Brochure said. "We would love to be selfish and have them all to ourselves, but we do hope they at least come back for more episodes next season."

In Wilmington, the show filmed primarily on two sound stages at the EUE/Screen Gems Studios, where sets of the interior of several homes and frequented establishments on the show were built. The series has also filmed at private residences on and around 17th Street and Wilmington's north side.

"The people of Wilmington are super warm, so nice. " cast member Aisha Hinds told the StarNews after wrapping production. "It was very easy for us to become one big family. It almost felt like life imitating art because we're under this dome in Chester's Mill ... and quickly, we all became very close. That's what it was like being there in Wilmington."

Since filming began in February, cast members frequently were spotted around town taking advantage of the Port City's hot spots. Dean Norris, who plays the show's villainous "Big Jim" Rennie, said he loves the downtown area and that local pubs Duck and Dive and Slainte rank among his favorites.

Jolene Purdy, who played radio jockey Dodee, said she and series stars Alexander Koch and Nicholas Strong were known for hitting the town as a "little three musketeers group" they called "the Midnight Ramblers."

Purdy also said that the cast would meet every Monday night to live chat with fans via Twitter as the episodes aired. "We just all congregated at our little place, watching the show, having ice cream sundaes."

It is those dedicated fans that have made the series into television's latest phenomenon. When it premiered on June 24, "Under the Dome" garnered more than 17 million viewers to become the biggest CBS summer premiere since the reality series "Big Brother" began in 2000 and the most-watched summer drama premiere on any network since 1992. Over the course of 12 episodes, the show has maintained an average of more than 10 million viewers each week.

Come Tuesday morning, however, after the guaranteed shock of the season finale has settled in and "Under the Dome" has shut its doors for the summer, those legions of Chester's Mill fans will have to begin settling in for a long winter (and spring) of anxiously waiting for answers. The 13-episode second season isn't scheduled to premiere until next summer with an episode written by the "Dome" auteur himself, Stephen King.

Production of the series is expected to resume in the Cape Fear area early next year.

Jeff Hidek contributed to this report.

Hunter Ingram: 343-2327

On Twitter: @WilmonFilm

Hell's Kitchen to host finale viewing party

Local “Under the Dome” fans looking for a like-minded crowd to watch the final epsiode with can head to Hell's Kitchen, 118 Princess St. in Wilmington.

Hosted by NCasting's Vanessa Neimeyer, the viewing party will feature several special “Dome”-themed drinks and food. One special will be the “half hamburger,” a nod to the series' first episode when the dome severed a cow in half.

The first 50 attendees will receive “Under the Dome” bumper stickers made specifically for the event, and everyone will have the chance to enter a raffle for more prizes given throughout the night during commercial breaks, Neimeyer said.

Neimeyer, who worked as an extras casting agent on the show, said this is the opportunity for local fans of the show and anyone who may have worked on the production to get together and celebrate the first season.

“The finale is definitely bittersweet,” Neimeyer said. “I'm not just watching with fans, but with people who I have cast on the show myself. It's almost like watching it with family.”

The episode airs at 10 p.m. on CBS, but those showing up to Hell's Kitchen are encouraged to arrive ahead of time. The premiere epsiode was screened in June at Hell's Kitchen to a standing-room-only crowd. Neimeyer expects a larger crowd Monday.

<p>The residents of Chester's Mill, the small town at the center of CBS' locally filmed thriller "Under the Dome," are not the only ones who have fallen victim to the captive hold of the inescapable dome that has isolated their town. All summer, millions of television fans yearning for original programming in the normally stagnant summer season have gravitated toward the engrossing series, making it one of the biggest summer programs in recent history and scoring the show a second season order.</p><p>Monday, the series, which is based on the Stephen King best-seller, airs its Season 1 finale, an episode that network previews have dubbed "phenomenal" and one that will likely answer just as many nail-biting questions as it poses. But the real story for local fans of the show is the continued presence "Under the Dome" has in the area, weeks after filming ended.</p><p>Much of the show's connection and investment with the area is thanks to its small-town setting, which allows recognizable local landmarks to pop up on the show, giving residents the opportunity to see their town in action on the small screen every week.</p><p>The city of Burgaw hosted the show repeatedly throughout first season production and built a relationship with the show that Town Manager Chad McEwen said was beneficial for both parties.</p><p>"For the most part, we had a very good relationship, especially with locations," McEwen said. "We tried to be as flexible and attentive to their needs as possible, while also balancing the overall needs of the businesses and residents in town."</p><p>While in Burgaw, "Under the Dome" converted the exterior of a coffee house on Courthouse Avenue into the show's diner, used the courthouse as the Chester's Mill police station and town hall, and used Dee's Drugstore as the town's pharmacy, which was raided early in the series.</p><p>Executive producer Neal Baer spoke specifically about the production's interest in Burgaw this summer at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles.</p><p>"Burgaw was really a focus for us. We love the way it looks and the accessibility," Baer said.</p><p>Even though production on the series' second season, ordered by CBS back in July, is months away, McEwen said the show already has been in contact with the city to bring cast and crews back to town. "We are very receptive to them coming back and to any comments and concerns they may have that will make the production even better next year," he said.</p><p>Southport, used for many of the waterfront scenes featured on the show, also reflected fondly on its experience with cast and crew leading into Monday's season finale.</p><p>"We have had an excellent relationship with the show," said Cindy Brochure, director of Tourism & Economic Development for the city. "We were happy to have them and, according to those location scouts who have come to Southport in search of filming locations, they were happy to be here."</p><p>Like Burgaw, production is expected to return to Southport and Brochure said the town will gladly welcome the show back with open arms. </p><p>"We not only welcome their return, but we look forward to it," Brochure said. "We would love to be selfish and have them all to ourselves, but we do hope they at least come back for more episodes next season."</p><p>In Wilmington, the show filmed primarily on two sound stages at the EUE/Screen Gems Studios, where sets of the interior of several homes and frequented establishments on the show were built. The series has also filmed at private residences on and around 17th Street and Wilmington's north side.</p><p>"The people of Wilmington are super warm, so nice. " cast member Aisha Hinds told the StarNews after wrapping production. "It was very easy for us to become one big family. It almost felt like life imitating art because we're under this dome in Chester's Mill ... and quickly, we all became very close. That's what it was like being there in Wilmington."</p><p>Since filming began in February, cast members frequently were spotted around town taking advantage of the Port City's hot spots. Dean Norris, who plays the show's villainous "Big Jim" Rennie, said he loves the downtown area and that local pubs Duck and Dive and Slainte rank among his favorites. </p><p>Jolene Purdy, who played radio jockey Dodee, said she and series stars Alexander Koch and Nicholas Strong were known for hitting the town as a "little three musketeers group" they called "the Midnight Ramblers."</p><p>Purdy also said that the cast would meet every Monday night to live chat with fans via <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a> as the episodes aired. "We just all congregated at our little place, watching the show, having ice cream sundaes."</p><p>It is those dedicated fans that have made the series into television's latest phenomenon. When it premiered on June 24, "Under the Dome" garnered more than 17 million viewers to become the biggest CBS summer premiere since the reality series "Big Brother" began in 2000 and the most-watched summer drama premiere on any network since 1992. Over the course of 12 episodes, the show has maintained an average of more than 10 million viewers each week.</p><p>Come Tuesday morning, however, after the guaranteed shock of the season finale has settled in and "Under the Dome" has shut its doors for the summer, those legions of Chester's Mill fans will have to begin settling in for a long winter (and spring) of anxiously waiting for answers. The 13-episode second season isn't scheduled to premiere until next summer with an episode written by the "Dome" auteur himself, Stephen King.</p><p>Production of the series is expected to resume in the Cape Fear area early next year.</p><p><i></p><p>Jeff Hidek contributed to this report.</i></p><p>Hunter Ingram: 343-2327</p><p>On Twitter: @WilmonFilm</p><h3>Hell's Kitchen to host finale viewing party</h3>
<p>Local “Under the Dome” fans looking for a like-minded crowd to watch the final epsiode with can head to Hell's Kitchen, 118 Princess St. in Wilmington. </p><p>Hosted by NCasting's Vanessa Neimeyer, the viewing party will feature several special “Dome”-themed drinks and food. One special will be the “half hamburger,” a nod to the series' first episode when the dome severed a cow in half. </p><p>The first 50 attendees will receive “Under the Dome” bumper stickers made specifically for the event, and everyone will have the chance to enter a raffle for more prizes given throughout the night during commercial breaks, Neimeyer said.</p><p>Neimeyer, who worked as an extras casting agent on the show, said this is the opportunity for local fans of the show and anyone who may have worked on the production to get together and celebrate the first season.</p><p>“The finale is definitely bittersweet,” Neimeyer said. “I'm not just watching with fans, but with people who I have cast on the show myself. It's almost like watching it with family.”</p><p>The episode airs at 10 p.m. on CBS, but those showing up to Hell's Kitchen are encouraged to arrive ahead of time. The premiere epsiode was screened in June at Hell's Kitchen to a standing-room-only crowd. Neimeyer expects a larger crowd Monday.</p><p>More information about the party can be found on </p><p>NCasting's <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/facebook"><b>Facebook</b></a> page.</p><p><i></p><p>– Hunter Ingram</i></p>